3/12/09 Mr Ton Chiang Mai tour

We met Mr Ton while we were finishing breakfast in the hotel at 9 am. We went to his truck and climbed in the back for the drive out to the elephant camp. The Maesa elephant camp is home to about 78 elephants from nursery juveniles to a 55 year old. The elephants there are trained with individual mahouts to do all sorts of tricks, play games, paint and various logging tasks to demonstrate their intelligence to audiences in a show. We arrived there after a drive at breakneck speed to see the daily show. We just missed the very start but saw the rest including football, darts, logging skills, dancing and painting. The elephants all produced the most accurate paintings, one of which was a line drawing of the king and we couldn't believe it. Maesa has a world record for the most expensive painting by elephants (not sure how much competition there will be for that one) The elephants seemed to enjoy all the applause and performing but it just didn't feel right seeing them swinging their trunks around while blowing harmonicas!!. The huge animals weren't doing their normal things but how do you tell if an elephant is enjoying himself, they may really love learning!! After the show the elephants all came around the edge of the arena stretching their trunks forward to take food from the audience. They had bananas and sugar cane and when anyone handed over a tip they gave it back to their mahouts. After the show we went to see the nursery where there was one youngster with her mum and a 45 yrs old pregnant elephant with three months to go. We fed them all and watched a while before we went back to meet Mr Ton via the elephant art gallery with the paintings on display. After the elephant show we drove along to Baan Tong Luang which is a cultural village set up to preserve the traditions of the various tribes of Northern Thailand. Inside the village there are homes and traditions of about 5 different tribes all set up to educate tourists and keep the tribal traditions alive. We walked around the village and the locals were selling all sorts of handicrafts and welcomed us inside their homes to look round. There were Karen, Lahu Shi Bala, Palong Mong and Long neck tribes there. The long neck part was the most fascinating.The long neck tribe comes from Burma originally. All girls from the age of five have metallic rings around their necks to lengthen them as a sign of beauty. The little girls had only a few rings but as they get older more are added to lengthen them. They all wore full make up too and rings round their legs plus traditional costume. Boys and men were all dressed in modern casual gear...thats fair !! The rings are worn most of the time except in bed when the girls have to use a support for their necks as they have no strength . We both picked up the rings and were surprised how heavy they were. We spent about an hour there then set off for the next visit to the snake farm. When we arrived at the Maesa snake farm a demonstration was just finishing which we caught the end of. The snake handler was in a pool with a huge python !!! They told us we could see another show in ten minutes and to look around the rest of the farm. We went outside to the farm area where there were loads of cages and enclosures for the snakes. We went to look into one cage with pythons inside and one launched at the wire mesh with its mouth open in a really aggressive way straight in our direction. It did it a couple of times and we jumped out of skins glad that the cage was there. His mouth was huge and he really smacked his fangs on the wire mesh...Phil loves snakes (not) and nearly dirtied his pants !! We looked into a couple of deep concrete pits to see the masses of curled up rat snakes inside. We saw a few cobra and lots of really deadly and aggressive snakes. One of the handlers came outside and coiled up a rat snake to put on Lizzies head then she held it for the rest of the visit. He was one of the gentler ones and slithered his way over her arms and hands all the time. We sat to watch the demo and we had a show just for us. The handlers pulled out two cobras and moved around to make them attack towards him. They flared out their hoods and lurched forwards towards the handler many times. they moved really quickly and we made sure we were well away . They showed us a jumping python which coiled up its tail then shot out to full length to catch its prey. They kissed a couple of the snakes and generally made them mad. They made one attack a clear cup so we could see the venom squirt out...ergh!!! After a half hour show Liz handed the rat snake back then we joined Mr Ton again to see the next place. We arrived at Monkey School to see a demonstation of trained monkeys , but it was a bit of a circus and we didn't enjoy it too much. The monkeys were all tethered with chains round their necks and on really short chain lengths. The show was them riding bikes, counting and generally not being monkeys except one bit when they climbed a tree to get a coconut. Monkeys are used to collect coconuts here apparently. It all felt a bit cruel but again how can you tell if they like it or not ?? We fed some of the monkeys some fruits and left. The last visit of the day was to Tiger Kingdom where we were able to go in to the tiger cage and have photos taken in close contact with the amazing cats. We went in for fifteen minutes with Mikey a big male who lay placidly while we sat beside him and stroked him. We asked the keeper why the tigers were so gentle and he said they sleep in the wild for 18 hours a day and these ones were hand reared so are comfortable in human company. It was amazing to be so close to the tiger .Again we weren't sure if it was the right thing for them as we weren't told much about them, so it felt more like a money making thing than anything else. We went to see the other tigers of varying ages and spent a long time watching three young kittens bounding around and fighting with each other. They really are the most gorgeous creatures and in the wild here they would be hunted and shot. After Tiger Kingdom we went back to Chiang Mai via Wat Phra That Doi Suthep, one of the norths most sacred temples. The site was chosen by a white elephant who was carrying a Buddha relic and he died on the spot so it became the relics new home. We drove up a long road out of town gaining height overlooking the town. It got pretty cold on the drive up to the temple and it had got quite dark by the time we arrived. We got a lift to the top and went to explore. There was a procession of monks walking through having arrived back from collecting alms. They were throwing money and pretty ribbon flowers out of their collection pots. Lots of children were taking the money and we had a few flowers as momentos. Some children were playing with the sacred Buddhist Bells.The monks all stopped for photos then went away down some stairs. We went inside the golden stupa area which was a huge gold leaf covered stupa lit up with butter lamps and flood lights. It was really lovely in the lights and then some monks were getting ready to pray so we stayed a while and watched as they banged the drum and lit two huge candles before entering the temple. We went into the lift to return to the bottom but the lift doors didn't stay open long enough for us to get out so we ended up back at the top !!! We got into the back of Mr Tons truck for the cold ride down into town. The views across the city were really good with all the lights. We got back to the guesthouse at about 7.30pm after a long day out. We dropped off some laundry and Liz booked onto a full day Thai cooking course the next day. Then we went to the nearby optician to see about replacing Phils glasses, lost forever in the Mekong river outside Vang Vieng. The optician was really nice with great English and the prices were really cheap compared to home, we decided to come back the next day to order some. We went by tuk tuk to the night market for a mooch round the stalls. The market stretches over many blocks and has indoor and outside sections to it selling anything and everything. We looked around a few different sections and stopped in the food hall to eat some yummy dishes then carried on through loads more stalls. We ended up entering a huge open area surrounded by restaurants and bars with a big market area in the middle.In the middle though was a really large open air resturant/bar where there was a Thai man singing John Denvers "c*** y loads" and playing guitar. It sounded so funny with his accent we just had to stop and listen to his country tunes with a cold beer. On the next table along were two couples, one German and one a German with a Thai wife. The two men were really drunk and very loud but quite funny and we ended up joining tables with them for a while and had a bit of a giggle. After a few too many beers we headed back to the hotel for bed.

4/12/09

Lizzies day: Liz was picked up to go to the local market with a group of eight other "cooks". The chef was really funny and kept making rude comments while we walked round the market learning about the ingredients for curry paste. Once we'd had a good look round he drove us all to the kitchen where we would spend most of the day. It turned out on the journey that one of the other students from Canada had studied at Worcester university and knew the place well!!! Most people have never heard of Worcester but she had even lived there...amazing. When we got to the kitchen we were all given a work station that included some pots and utensils a chopping block and some cleaned veggies. We started by watching the chef create a Thai shrimp and chicken soup. It literally took about two minutes to cook it in a wok. Liz picked up just one chilli and went off to create the soup and even though she says it herself it tasted really good. It was so easy she is going to recreate it when she gets home. The next recipe we all learned was for sticky rice and mango. Sticky rice takes about 24 hours in total to prepare with hours of soaking then a final steam. We then had a go at spring rolls which were also pretty straight forward as long as Liz can get the right papers at home. We all chose a curry to make and Liz made Panang curry which is made with pumpkin, coconut milk and chicken. We left that cooking for about 5 minutes and got on with making a Pad Thai (for anyone who doesn't know its a classic Thai stir fry noodle and egg). The chef showed us how to make a spicy papaya salad and we all put our dishes on the table. The food was all really quick and easy to make and we all had good results from our efforts, we were helped by a great little Thai lady who came along and added ingredients while we were stirring furiously over our woks.....any volunteers for that job??? We all sat down at the table to eat our way through the masses of food we'd made. It all tasted really delicious and we all struggled to finish but had doggy bags to take with us. After a little rest we all went to the kitchen garden to see the vegetables and spices growing there, then we were driven back to the hotel. Liz was back a bit earlier than she expected so went on the blog site until Phil got back.

Phil's day: Phil woke up with Liz and went to chat with Mr Whiskey about booking our onward travels through the Thai peninsula. Mr Whiskey suggested another travel agent and offered a free tuk tuk to take Phil there. Phil went to the optician first and ordered glasses and lenses to see him through the rest of our trip. The tuk tuk then took Phil to see the travel agent in the old town. Phil spent the next hour and a half in the company of a ladyboy travel agent !!! The agent was really helpful with ideas on travel and suggestions for hotels but it was all too expensive but Phil took the details to see if we could do it any cheaper booking directly. Phil headed away from the agents and stopped in an interent cafe to check the prices of all the things the agent had suggestd but found it all to be over our budget. By now it was about 12.30 and Phil hadn't got too far but he made his way to Wat Chiang Man, the oldest wat inside the old city walls founded in 1296. It was built by King Meng Rai who founded the city of Chiang Mai in 1296 and it has paintings of the life of Buddha inside. On his way to the next temple he came across a school where all te children were wearing pink which we later learned was a sign of respect for the king as it was his birthday. The school were having a sports day and Phil took a few photos (no problem with the pc brigade here!!) . At the next wat, Wat Phra Singh, a man approached Phil as he was discreetly taking some photos of the monks. The man got some water for him then took him to introduce the monks. He then disappeared leaving Phil with the monks. One of them handed Phil a card with his name and a Buddhist mantra written on it. The man then returned with a bowl of icecream for Phil, he tucked in before remembering the warnings about taking food from strangers in case you get drugged. By this stage though Phil had realised the man had learning disabilities so didn't feel too unsafe. The man gave Phil a photo of himself as a momento and then left Phil with the monk. The monk looked at Phils watch and asked how much was it. Trying not to appear too frivolous Phil made up a really low price and the monk looked delighted and started to get some money out to buy it. Phil had to clear up the misunderstanding to stop the monk buying his watch. The monk went to the main temple with Phil following to attend the prayers. Phil ended up joining the monk on the prayer mat and following his lead through the service. There was to be a main prayer service later in the afternoon and it seemed the monk wanted Phil to stay but he had to meet Liz so made his excuses to leave. Next, Phil went to Wat Si Koet where he took a few pictures before going to see Wat Chedi Luang. A wat has to have ten resident monks to be called a wat and Phil got chatting to two novice monks who had good English. They were studying for 4 years in Chiang Mai before returning back to their monastery in Luang Prabang. It was funny because we had met monks in Luang Prabang who were from Thailand and monks in Thailand who were from Luang Prabang. He got a few photos with them then realised it had gone four when he was meant to be meeting Liz so he got a tuk tuk back to the guesthouse.

We met up and got showered before leaving ad calling into the opticians to see if the glasses were ready but they would be ready later that evening. We went up the street to a fast internet cafe which we had used before. We spent absolutely ages looking for accomodation in Bangkok, it was all too far out, too expensive, too bad reviews or fully booked as it was the Kings birthday. We finally found somewhere that sounded nice, Liz filled out all the booking and pressed confirm before realising she had put in the wrong dates !!! We then had a frantic half hour calling the hotel to change the dates. A helpful hotel porter in the hotel opposite the internet cafe helped us to use the public phone box and we got it sorted thankfully as we would lose the money from the internet booking. From there we caught a tuk tuk to the night markets again but most of the stalls were packing up as it was gone 11pm. We wandered to the open air bit where we'd seen "John Denver" and had a meal in a restaurant owned by an ex pat Australian. He had moved to Thailand with his Thai girlfriend and opened the business 5 months before only for her to run off with someone else!!! We stayed for a few beers and a chat witrh Bob then went back to bed.